12:00 PM PDT on Thursday, April 29, 2004

By ABE ESTIMADA, kgw.com Staff

Seconds before his patrol partner Officer Jason Sery opened fire, Officer Sean Macomber said he felt like a target as he was losing control of James Jahar Perez.

Portland police officer Sean Macomber, officer Jason Sery's partner, testifies during the inquest. (KGW Photo)

Macomber used a variety of holds to try and restrain Perez. None of it seemed to work in the 22 to 24 seconds between the time Perez was stopped and the time he was shot.

"I felt as if I was in a stalemate," said a shaken Macomber as he recalled in halting detail what happened during that fateful traffic stop on March 28.

“I felt there was no advantage. I was becoming aware of the fact that my hands were in use and… there was an overwhelming sense that something bad is happening, and I can't control anything. I'm doing everything I can, but it's not enough.”

James Jahar Perez. (Portland police/kgw.com Photo)

Macomber’s testimony on Wednesday gave new details about the last moments of Perez’s life, and he became the star witness on the first day of Portland's first public inquest in nearly two decades.

Macomber’s appearance before the inquest was also the first time he had appeared before much of the public since the shooting. News pictures have never shown his face before to protect his identity as a law enforcement officer, and he has only been known in media reports as Perez’s partner.

A Multnomah County grand jury last week did not find enough evidence to charge Sery in the shooting, prompting Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk to conduct the inquest.

KGW.com will offer live streaming video throughout each day of the inquest.

Dressed in a coat and tie, Macomber took the stand on Wednesday as the third witness of the inquest, which during the course of the next two or three days, will determine when, where and how Perez died.

Following state laws on inquests, Macomber’s and Sery’s testimonies won’t be used in any civil or criminal proceedings. Both officers are on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure for policeman involved in shootings.

Sery is expected to testify on Friday.

New details on what led to shooting

Perez’s luxury, white Mitsubishi sedan with chrome wheels and tinted windows traveling on a less-than-busy street in north Portland was what originally drew their attention to him.

After checking the license plate, the officers found that the car was registered to an owner born in 1959. Perez didn’t appear to match the age of the car owner.

The 30-year-old Macomber, who said he grew up in north Portland and graduated from Roosevelt High School, was familiar with the area, and the car didn't fit the neighborhood. In fact, the car was probably as expensive as the third of a cost of a house in the neighborhood, he said.

“It seemed likely to me it might be involved in some kind of activity, vice-related, meaning illegal narcotics – something of that nature,” Macomber said.

Macomber, who was driving, decided to follow the Mitsubishi. Before briefly losing sight of the car, Macomber and Sery both noticed two passengers in the car.

The first person to testify in the public inquest takes a seat next to the judge in the Multnomah County courtroom. (KGW Photo)

But by the time they stopped the Mitsubishi on the 7200 block of N. Fessenden as it turned into a parking lot, the second passenger was gone. Macomber said the Mitsubishi failed to use a signal light in time to turn.

Perez confrontational

As soon as the car stopped, Perez leaned his head out the driver’s side window, which was rolled down, and was confrontational, Macomber said.

“(Perez) yelled back in a very forceful tone, ‘What’s the problem?’ in a very loud (tone), as if he wanted to initiate an argument type of tone,” Macomber said.

Macomber said he and Sery did not know who Perez was at the time of the traffic stop. Nor did they recognize him.

As Macomber approached the driver’s side of the car, he asked if Perez had a driver’s license. Perez said he didn’t, mumbled something, then said he had identification.

Perez also appeared to have his hands on his lap. Macomber asked for the ID.

Traffic stop begins to turn ugly

At the same time, Perez began to reach for the power button to roll up his driver’s side window. Macomber ordered Perez to keep his window down because he couldn't see inside the car.

“He totally ignores me,” Macomber said. “He doesn’t follow my instructions. He’s intent on turning around and rolling that window up.”

Macomber then opened the driver’s side door. Perez appeared to be leaning over the center console, his left back facing Macomber. Perez then turned his head and said, “‘I thought you wanted ID,’” Macomber said.

Macomber asked him a second time for his identity, but Perez mumbled a response.

It was about that time Macomber ordered Perez to put his hands on top of his head.

The courtroom was packed with community members and reporters during the inquest into the deadly police shooting. (KGW Photo)

“My intention was to put him in custody for failure to display a driver’s license,” Macomber said.

Perez leaned back over the center console, and that’s when Macomber began to grab Perez’s left arm and place it on top of his head. Macomber then tried to put a wrist lock on Perez. Perez kept turning his head to try to look at the officer.

Macomber said he’d been in fights before. He’s seen people try to run away from him but never to try and look back at him. That’s when Macomber began to grow uneasy.

“I remember feeling he’s looking back at me to acquire my position, find out where I’m at, to see what my physical location is, as if I’m a target,” Macomber said.

Macomber then tried pushing Perez’s face the other way while trying to position himself closer to the car so he wouldn’t present a wider target.

Perez reaching for pocket

As the two struggled inside the driver’s seat, Macomber noticed Perez’s right hand digging into his right pocket.

“It appeared to me there was something in his pocket bigger than just his hand in his pocket,” Macomber said. “There appeared to be a bulge of some sort…when I saw that bulge, I got a very sick feeling in my stomach. It was starting to become even faster the way things were happening. I started to become very afraid of what he was trying to do with his right hand.”

Macomber said he felt he was losing control of Perez.

Sery decides to shoot

To his left, he heard Sery yell, “’Move back. I’m going to shoot.’”

Macomber said he doesn’t remember seeing Sery fire, but he does recall hearing his partner shoot.

“I’m turning to get out of the line of fire,” Macomber said. “The next thing I can remember…I’m standing next to Sery, still seeing movement from the driver’s seat of the car. At that point, I retrieved my tazer, deployed two darts.”

Macomber also recalled calling for help from other officers.

Perez's body remained in the seatbelt, and the car continued to run and the stereo was blaring.

After the shooting

Upon closer inspection after the shooting, police officers found a plastic bag of drugs inside Perez's mouth.

Police and a medic testified during the inquest Wednesday afternoon that three or four shots were directed at Perez's chest.

By the time medics arrived, they said Perez had no pulse and wasn't breathing. Blood could be seen on the left side of his body above his waistline.

Evidence is shown on a large screen in the Multnomah County courtroom. (KGW Photo)

"We did not believe he was someone who could be resuscitated successfully," said American Medical Response medic Linda Pantley.

Two medical examiners and police looked, but found no weapon on Perez or in his car, said Detective Jon Rhodes, the lead investigator in the case, during earlier testimony on Wednesday.

"We searched every nook and cranny," Rhodes said.

A later autopsy would also show cocaine in Perez's system.

Inquest jury’s work

Macomber’s gripping testimony became the centerpiece of the inquest on Wednesday. The six-member jury, made up of three men and three women, will listen to up to 40 witnesses.

The inquest is meant to shed as much light on the shooting to the public as possible, Schrunk has said.

“The facts will be the first step in community healing, reformation if anything needs to change, and training," Schrunk said shortly after the inquest jury was seated on Wednesday morning.

As part of their probe, the inquest jury went to the site of the shooting and will also see Perez's car on Wednesday afternoon. Video of their visit is expected to air sometime Thursday morning during the inquest.

During the inquest, Schrunk will pose questions from him and the inquest jury to the various witnesses, experts and police officers who take the stand. Members of the general public aren't allowed to cross-examine the witnesses.

Schrunk said he would conduct the inquest after the grand jury decided not to indict Sery. Schrunk originally planned for the inquest into the Perez shooting before the grand jury was to meet.

But the district attorney scrapped those plans three weeks ago after Sery’s lawyer filed suit to bar his client from testifying for the inquest.

With the inquest delayed until after the grand jury convened, Sery’s lawyer agreed to drop his suit, and Sery will testify before the grand jury and inquest without legal immunity.

Schrunk in 1985 called for an inquest after a 31-year-old African-American, Lloyd Stevenson, died when a Portland police officer applied a “sleeper hold.”